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2nd reading: You know what, I liked this a little bit more after reading it again. It's possible that the crap I read before this made this seem better overall ... but, meh. Not bad.

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Original review:I don't know man ... I finished this and started on the second volume and I feel like this might be one of those instances where I just don't get the hype. I also don't understand how this is already up to 11 volumes when (some spoilers for volume 2 as well) (view spoiler)[the main character "dies" in the first volume, (though I'm guessing, since I've read a bit of volume 2, that he somehow inhabits one of the Titans, so he's not really dead.) (hide spoiler)]

I don't think the art is particularly good, and while the story is pretty unique, I was kind of bored, honestly. Everyone is going nuts for the anime and I even started the first episode though got distracted halfway through and stopped watching for some reason and never went back. What I watched though was pretty much scene-by-scene for what happened in the manga, though I'm not sure how long the anime stays like that.

I found the main character brash, whiny, and annoying, and the fact that he's prone to shouting and going nuts didn't endear him to me at all. The other characters were practically faceless/nameless to me and completely forgettable, except for Mikasa (thanks, FREEBIRD.) She's a badass and should be the real main character, (view spoiler)[and I suspect this will be the case with the way things end up, and I'm completely ok with that. (hide spoiler)]

I guess a part of me wasn't really paying attention that this is dystopia, because I'm not a big fan of the genre at all and would normally just steer clear of it. The fact that this isn't clicking with me could be my own fault, since dystopia almost never entertains me. So many people were talking about the manga and the anime though that I wanted to see what all the fuss was about, and that's not always the greatest idea.

I don't know, I might give this through volume 3 before I drop it, just because it's so popular and I'd hate to miss out on something that turns out to be spectacular. No way am I reading all of it though if I just end up feeling the same way after three books. I'm glad it has its fans though and that a series that breaks the mold is doing so well, but I have a feeling this might not be for me.

Read information about the author

Japanese name: 諫山創

Hajime Isayama (諫山 創 Isayama Hajime, born 1986) is a Japanese manga artist from Ōyama, Ōita. His first and currently ongoing serial, Attack on Titan, has sold over 22 million copies as of July 2013. He has mentioned Tsutomu Nihei, Ryōji Minagawa, Kentaro Miura, Hideki Arai and Tōru Mitsumine as artists he respects, but stated that the manga that had the biggest influence on him was ARMS.